American television director Paul Alter was born on March 11, 1922 in Chicago, IL. In 1950, before this veteran TV game-show director and producer went to work in TV he used to study piano with Teddy Wilson from Benny Goodman Quartet. Learning from the best, Alter turned out to be a talented musician. Then after many years spent as a TV director and producer, he finally used his talent and composed the 1969 theme music for To Tell the Truth. Paul Alter graduated from NYU and the Yale School of Drama. He is best known as producer and director of shows such as 'I've Got a Secret,' 'To Tell the Truth,' 'What's My Line,' 'Password,' 'Family Feud' and 'The Price is Right,' 'Man Against Crime,' 'Playhouse 90,' 'Perry Como Show,' Member of ASCAP, DGA.

In 1950 he decided to explore the opportunities of the entertainment industry and got his first job as director of the game show 'Beat the Clock.' While working on this project Paul Alter met with Mark Goodson and soon became a key figure at Mark Goodson Productions. This association with Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions turned out to be long-lasting and for a long period of time Paul Alter worked on their shows. In fact, starting from 1956 until 2000, he helped the production create more than 60 game shows and directed almost all of the show’s pilots, even if he wasn’t credited as a director, and other people were calling the shots for the series.

Throughout the course of his career that spanned 50 years, Paul Alter directed and produced around 60 game shows and other productions. In addition to that he did some work outside TV game show scene. For example he edited and scripted episodes of the 1950s crime drama 'Man Against Crime,' took the leading position in some episodes of 'Perry Como Show,' and occasionally served as an editor to Sidney Lumet on the TV series 'Danger.' In 1972, for the first time ever, Alter produced a Broadway show, Simon Gray’s 'A Wise Child.'

Location

Chicago, IL

Disciplines

• Art History
• Classics and Classical Studies
• Creative Writing
• Film Studies
• Humanities
• Literature
• Music and Musicology
• Performing Arts
• Theater Studies
• Urban Studies

Affiliation

TV Producer at CBS